Zen Keys

I THE PRACTICE OF MINDFULNESS THE LITTLE BOOK I entered Tu Hioeu Zen Monastery in the Imperial City of Huee when I was sixteen years old. After a brief adjustment to monastic life, I presented myself before the monk responsible for my training and asked him to teach me the Zen ''way.'' He gave me a small book,The Little Manual of Practice, printed in Chinese characters, and asked me to learn it by heart. I thanked him and went to my room to study. This bookwhich is famous in Zen circlesis divided into three parts: 1) ''Practice in Everyday Life''; 2) ''Essential Practices for a Novice''; and 3) ''The Teachings of Zen Master Kuai Chan.'' There is no philosophy at all in this book. All three parts discuss only practical problems. The first part teaches how to calm and concentrate the mind. The second discusses the precepts and other practices essential to monastic life. The third is a beautiful exhortation to Zen students to encourage them to remember that their time and life are precious and should not be vainly dissipated. I was assured that not only young novices begin with this book, but that monks even forty and fifty also followed its prescriptions. Before entering the monastery, I had already received some Western education, and I had the impression that the methods of teaching Buddhism in the monasteries were a little old-fashioned. First we were asked to learn the whole book by heart. Then we were to begin practicing without even being given the theoretical principles underlying it. I shared these concerns with another novice, who told me, ''This is the way followed here. If you want to learn Zen, you must accept it.'' So I resigned myself to beginning my practice in the traditional way. The first part ofThe Little Manual, ''Practice in Everyday Life,'' containsgathas, short verses that bring the energy of mindfulness to each act of daily life. For example, when I wash my hands, I bring forth this thought: ''Water flows over these hands. May I use them skillfully to preserve our precious planet.'' When I am sitting in the meditation hall, I think: ''Sitting here is like sitting under the bodhi tree. My body is mindfulness itself, entirely free from distraction.'' And even when using the toilet, I say to myself: ''Defiled or immaculate, increasing or decreasingthese concepts exist only in our minds. The reality of interbeing is unsurpassed.'' ''Practice in Everyday Life'' contains a total of fifty gathas. We have to practice intelligently so that we can compose others when we need them. The ones in the manual are only examples. We should modify or even change them and write others more suited to our needs and contemporary conditions. Suppose I am about to use the telephone. There is no gatha for using the telephone inThe Little Manual, because at the time the book was written there were no telephones. I have invented a number of gathas, like the following: ''Words can travel thousands of miles. May my words create mutual understanding and love. May they be beautiful as gems, as lovely as flowers.'' I have compiled a book of traditional and modern gathas entitledPresent Moment Wonderful Moment: Mindfulness Verses for Daily Living, for your use in the practice. When I was sixteen, I thoughtThe Little Manualwas written for young people and those just beginning the practice of Zen. I thought this method was just for preparation. But today, more than fifty years later, I know thatThe Little Manualis the very essence of Zen Buddhism. NECESSARY AWARENESS I remember a short conversation between the Buddha and a philosopher of his time. ''I have heard that Buddhism is a doctrine of enlightenment. What is your method? What do you practice every day?'' ''We walk, we eat, we wash ourselves, we sit down . . .'' ''What is so special aboutHanh, Thich Nhat is the author of 'Zen Keys', published 1994 under ISBN 9780385475617 and ISBN 0385475616.